The Bucs (9-6, 1-5 SSC) had won two of their last three games coming in, but got man-handled on the boards, as the Tars held a 48-30 edge on the glass, including 17-5 on the offensive end. The edge led to a 14-2 advantage in second chance points.

The Bucs led 6-0 after the first two minutes, as Colette Eule’s jumper with 17:52 left gave the Bucs their biggest lead of the game. But they went stone cold from the floor, missing their next nine shots as the Tars rolled off 13 straight points. Eule’s jumper with 8:36 left finally snapped the skid and a pair of free throws by her made it 25-22 Tars with 1:10 to play.

But Ashley Losch hit a jumper at the buzzer to end the half and the Tars scored the first six points of the second period to go up 33-22. The Bucs clawed back to within five, 45-40, on a layup by Kaley Howard with 5:05 remaining. But another cold stretch doomed the Bucs, as they connected on just one shot, a Jackie Perez three-pointer, over the last five minutes.

The Bucs will host the Tampa Spartans on Saturday, Jan. 26 at 4:00 pm.